A Thousand Words
by Aiden Ravelle
Summary: A story based on the short video A Thousand Words by Ted Chung.


I had to write this for school and it was basically an assignment to write a background story and that seemed so much like fanfic to me.. soo that's where this came from! Hope you enjoy!

A Thousand Words by Ted Chung shows a short snippet of two people's lives. There is so much more to a person though than just what a passerby sees. I wanted to expand on my thoughts of what the bicyclist character's life is like. Though the photographer is shown to have a name, I did not see anything indicating the man's name so I am going to call him Jiro. This is my idea on his life story.

Jiro moved to California in search of new opportunities. Having an older brother who always excelled at everything, he was often pushed to the side. Jiro watched as his parents showered his brother in praises, as his jealousy slowly grew. Having dreams of outdoing his brother, Jiro decided to move out of the small town he grew up in. He decided a big city would have many opportunities, so he quickly moved, selling his car for plane tickets to get there. Months and months of interviews and auditions passed him by, his savings account dwindling by the day. He had a very small apartment with just the essentials, but hoped to move into a bigger place and have the money to decorate it nicely. However, with his financial troubles he knew it was impossible to at that point in time. Finally, he found a job at a fast food restaurant which gave him enough money to pay for his apartment and phone but his food money was tight. He gave in and headed to the local food bank. He grew to know the people there well, coming weekly, just to get enough to survive.

He kept looking for other opportunities, filling out applications, and going to interviews. Multiple emails filled his inbox talking about how he wasn't 'right' for the position and that they had gone with another applicant. Finally, two years after moving to California, he found a factory job that paid a little better. He called to let his parents know, but hung up soon after they started praising his brother for his new promotion.

Though his jealousy toward his brother survived, Jiro was learning a new way of thinking. Having made a couple friends at the food pantry, he learned how one's life isn't simply based on one's career. A career can be important, but some of the nicest people in the world were those who were poorer, trying to help people in any way they could.

Even with having a few friends, the long hours of his factory job often left him feeling lonely and depressed. He had grown to like his small apartment with the mattress on the floor and a mini fridge to keep his little bit of food cold, but it was also an isolating little room, blocking him away from the entire world. He tried a couple times to flirt with pretty women he met on the bus, but like usual, nothing ever panned out.

One rough day, Jiro was heading home early as he was informed he would be fired for missing too much work. It hadn't been like he didn't want to be there, he really did, but he had gotten sick a few times and couldn't even get up off of his mattress let alone go to work. Not sure what to do, he got on the bus and zoned out, trying to ignore the depression and worry welling up in his chest. A few times, he worried that life wasn't worth living at all. He knew the few friends he had cared for him, but it still seemed his parents didn't care, he couldn't find a girlfriend, and now was jobless once more. While pondering his life and deciding if he should even keep living, he spotted a woman sitting across from him. He would often watch the people on the bus when the scenery grew dull and repetitive. It was rare though that someone looked his way. People focusing on their phones, or their families, or just looking straight ahead at their destination. He noticed she was carrying a box of assorted items and glancing at her camera. Used to being passed over in every aspect of life for someone 'better', he was surprised when she actually looked his way. Embarrassed that she caught him looking at her, he turned his head to stare back out the window. He made a few small glances after that until she finally exited the bus. He noticed she left her camera and considered running out after her but the train started moving once more. He placed the camera safely in his pocket before making his own exit. He rode home, passing the same scenery he did every day, waving at the few people he recognized.

Once he got to his apartment, his mind tried not to dwell on the lost job as he munched on some stale chips. Finally, he pulled out the camera and scanned through the pictures. The first few were of the woman which he finally now had a name for. Nasim, it seemed, was moving to Boston. That would explain the box, probably items from her office desk. He laid there a while imagining what her life would be like before clicking forward on the camera. Finally, he got to a picture of himself. He sat up in surprise, wondering why someone would take a picture of him. He clicked next again and noticed another picture. It seemed he was asleep, but he was just trying to push away the growing depression. He wasn't one to cry, so maybe no one noticed he was upset anyway. The pictures continued, and he wondered what she saw in him to decide to snap those photographs. He knew he should be out searching for a new job, but he decided to search for Nasim, to not only return her camera, but to ask the questions on his mind.

He was disappointed to find she had already moved, but at least he had her address here, they could hopefully forward her camera to her if he sent it. He decided to take a picture of himself with his phone number so that they could talk, at the very least to know she received her item back. He sent it out in the mail, with a renewed hope. If she noticed him, it showed he wasn't completely invisible. Someone else saw worth in him, so even if he didn't always see it, it was worth it for him to be alive. He continued to wait for her call, hoping that she did better in her new town than he did in his.


End file.
